If the Santa Barbara County School Board of Education is unfamiliar to you, you are not alone. The incumbents running in the Nov. 3 election were appointed by the former county schools superintendent and have been unopposed for almost a generation.
I have not seen these school board seats on my ballot for 21 years.
The more I reviewed this public agency, which has done its best to stay out of the public eye, the more intrigued I became. The board oversees 22 school districts and 72,000 students.
What do the incumbents have to show for a $58 million budget? I want to know how the county Education Office serves our students and how the public’s money is budgeted and allocated to our county school districts.
I believe it is time for a fresh set of eyes, ears and ideas on the county school board, and. I’m running for the seat representing District Four, which extends from a small part of Ventura County to San Luis Obispo County and includes the Santa Ynez Valley, sections of Lompoc, Guadalupe, Santa Maria and unincorporated areas nearby.
If elected, my top priorities are to raise the urgency for school safety; focus on reversing the downward trend in reading, writing and math proficiency; and seek greater transparency and fiscal responsibility.
Unfortunately, the school board incumbents have watched our schools decline, to the point where we are now witnessing a generation of kids who are graduating without the academic or vocational skills necessary to succeed in the workplace or life. The coronavirus pandemic will only make matters worse.
The state data for Santa Barbara County schools is alarming, as depicted in the following graphic.
On a more local level, in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District, only 26 percent of the students met or exceeded math standards and only 34 percent for English. In the Lompoc Unified School District, as little as 28 percent of students met math standards and only 44 percent met English standards.
In my local school district, Santa Ynez Valley Union High School, only 38 percent of our students met math standards. In the Santa Barbara Unified School District, only 45 percent of students met math standards and 54 percent for English in 2019.
I am a 21-year Los Olivos resident, married for 29 years, and mother of two daughters, both college graduates and productive in their careers. I passionately support quality public education, student engagement and learning opportunities for all.
I believe that fiscally responsible and accountable decisions made today create a sustainable system for future students. I earned a B.A. degree in Economics from UCLA after being a Division 2 NCAA All-American swimmer at CSU Northridge.
After college, I spent my career working in investment management specializing in municipal bond finance and asset management.
Currently, I serve as chairwoman of the Santa Ynez Valley Union High School Bond Measure K 2016 Citizens Oversight Committee (COC) and am a designated member of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association. Our oversight committee monitors expenditures for school bond projects, ensuring that public funds are used as intended by the voters.
I also co-founded and serve as president of the nonprofit Academic Booster Club (ABC+), which provides financial assistance to enhance academic achievement and funds scholarships.
Transparency is a huge issue for me. After attending many sparsely attended school board meetings and observing numerous inconsistencies in the board’s decisions, I personally hired a videographer to videotape all the meetings. I post these videos to YouTube on a Facebook group page called the Transparency Project.
I am excited to focus my time and energy on bringing all voices to the table and discuss changes to a bureaucracy that is more than 50 years old.
Educational spending is an investment in our youth. I will dissect the issues and, at the end of the day, take action. It is never going to be perfect, but I believe we need to focus on new solutions for today’s ever-changing environment without abandoning the fundamentals, which are reading and math.
Education is an equalizer; the more you have, the more doors will open.
I will not accept any compensation nor health-care benefits that currently are afforded to our incumbents. This public money should go to the students.
I will work collaboratively, foster greater transparency for budgeting and spending, and emphasize programs that will help develop skills that are relevant for today’s economy, creative constructive thinkers, responsible citizens and future leaders. I humbly ask for your vote.
— Los Olivos resident Michelle de Werd is a candidate for Santa Barbara County School Board of Education District Four. The opinions expressed are her own.